Writing implement body connecting assembly



Aug. 19, 1969 R. LONGARZO WRITING IMPLEMENT BODY CONNECTING ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 7, 1967 INVENTOR. ROLAND LONGARZO ATTORNEX nited States 'atcnt 3,462,232 WRITING IMPLEMENT BGDY CONNECTING ASSEMBLY Roland Longarzo, Valley Stream, N.Y., assignor to Union Pen 8: Pencil Corp, Mount Vernon, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Feb. '7, 1967, Ser. No. 614,462 Int. Cl. 843th 7/00 US. Cl. 401209 '7 Claims saw-Wm ABSCT OF THE DISCLOS This invention relates to writing implements such as ball point pens and mechanical pencils having operating mechanisms inserted within the barrel of such writing implement, and the particular feature of this invention is the provision of a combination of a writing implement barrel having a main body portion comprising separable parts in which the separable parts and the insert operational mechanism are all fastened together by a single connecting fastener combination which effectively assembles the parts of the barrel and the operating mechanism. This is accomplished in the preferred form of this invention by providing the operational mechanism such as a ratchet mechanism with deformable means which will serve as a coupling for the separable parts of the writing implement barrel.

In the writing implements such as ball point pens known to the prior art, the main parts comprise a pen barrel in which a ball point cartridge containing an ink reservoir is spring pressed against a mechanism also contained within the barrel for actuating the cartridge and the ball point from a retracted to an extended position, and vice versa. One mechanism of this type well known in the prior art is a ratchet mechanism having an operating plunger at one end which usually protrudes from the upper end of the pen barrel, and a seat at the other end against which the inner end of the ink cartridge is spring pressed. In the devices well known to the prior art, pushing the plunger inwardly will cause the ratchet mechanism to either extend or retract the cartridge on alternate strokes. Such a ratchet mechanism is illustrated in the drawings of this invention without showing the actual working parts which are well known to all of those skilled in the art.

In the prior art, provision had to be made to maintain the ratchet mechanism in place in the pen barrel, and this has been done in various manners. For example, the ratchet mechanism is maintained at one end by the action of the inner end of the spring pressed ink cartridge which urges the ratchet operating mechanism towards the outer end of the upper part of the pen barrel. This requires that some means be provided to keep the ratchet mechanism from being forced completely out of the barrel. A first means is by way of providing a clip for the pen which is fastened at the top or upper end of the barrel and which restricts outward displacement of the ratchet mechanism assembly. Such an arrangement acts well, but limits the style of the pen because it requires that the clip be anchorded at the extreme upper end of the barrel.

A second prior art method is to cement the ratchet mechanism assembly to the inside of the upper barrel. This may also be satisfactory, but is quite expensive.

Other variations would be to put a notch in the barrel which would hold the ratchet mechanism in with the attendant disadvantage that manufacturing tolerances resulting in different distances of the notch with relation to the measurements of the ink cartridge and other parts would require a goodly number of rejects because of bad fit.

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Another prior art method would be to provide a pen clip which would go through a central portion of the barrel to hold the ratchet mechanism assembly in place. This also works well but makes it impossible to have a large diameter plunger since a good portion of the inner part of the barrel would be taken up by this clip fastening means.

It is also a fact that all of the above types of construction require additional parts and operations for first making a two-piece barrel which may be threaded together, and then making the separate provision for fastening the ratchet plunger mechanism in place.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide for a single writing implement body connecting assembly which will maintain the parts of the barrel together as Well as hold the ratchet mechanism assembly in place.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a connection means to assemble a writing implement which is both easy and economical to manufacture, and another object of the invention is to provide such a means which will simplify the assembly of writing implement components.

These objects and advantages are achieved in the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the invention partially in section and with parts cut away;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of a plunger operating insert mechanism for the invention with parts in phantom;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational detail, turned degrees from the position of the invention in FIG. 1, of portions of the invention with parts cut away showing the insert of FIG. 2 partially inserted in the upper part of the body portion of the barrel of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is another side elevational view from the same side as seen in FIG. 1 of the upper portion of the invention with parts in section showing the insert partially inserted into the upper barrel portion to a greater extent than that shown in FIG. 3.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The main body portion of the pen 10 as illustrated in the drawings comprises an upper barrel portion 12 and a lower barrel portion 14. The usual type of ball point ink cartridge 16 having a ball point 18 is inserted and fitted into the lower barrel portion 14 with the usual spring 20 to urge the ink cartridge 16 towards a retracted position in the usual manner known to the art. In the illustration shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, the cartridge 16 is shown in extended position with the ball point 18 protruding from the tip of the lower barrel 14 with spring 20 in a compressed condition urging cartridge 16 upwardly toward the upper barrel portion 12 within which a plunger operated ratchet assembly 22 is positioned. Ratchet assembly 22 has an abutting seat 24 against which inner end 26 of cartridge 16 is being pressed by action of spring 20. Reference numeral 28 identifies the location of the well known ratchet mechanism (not shown) of the plunger operated ratchet assembly 22. The plunger operated ratchet assembly 22 is contained within its own body portion or case 3t and comprises a plunger 32 which normally extends out of the top of the pen for manual operation and a connecting element 34 to which the plunger 32 is connected.

In the preferred form of this invention, the ratchet assembly together with its plunger are made to slide fit within the upper barrel 12, and as shown, these elements are cylindrical in shape. It is contemplated, however, that this type of ratchet assembly may be made in various cross sectional designs to suit various types of pen designs. For example, the mechanism portion within casing 30 may be cylindrical and the plunger portion 32 may be square instead of round so that the entire assembly may fit within a pen havin a round cross section at a central part of the body portion of its barrel, and a square cross section at the upper end of the barrel to provide a more pleasing design. Similarly, the plunger may have a diamond shaped cross section or an oval cross section, or an egg shaped cross section, or any other cross sectional area design which would be slideably operable within a pen barrel.

I take the usual ratchet mechanism known to the prior art and provide slits 36 on each side and a lateral extension 38 as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings. I then provide the upper barrel 12 with an opening 40 of a matching configuration to the perimeter of the lateral extension 38 as shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings. I then provide internal threads 42 in the casing 30 and a lower barrel 14 having external threaded portions at its inner end to match the internal threaded portion 42 of the casing 30. The lateral extension 38 on the casing 30 is provided to maintain the casing 30 within the upper bar'- rel 12 when such lateral extension 38 is fitted into opening 40 as shown in FIG. 3. The relationship of lateral extension 38 and opening 40 is such that each of said elements is positioned at the same distance up from the inner end of casing 30 and the inner end of upper barrel 12 respectively. This then provides that such inner ends of casing 30 and barrel 12 will be in parallel concentric positions having a substantially common inner end when the pen is assembled.

In order to load insert 22 with its casing 30 into the upper barrel 12, it is necessary to deform the downward or inner end of casing 30 so that extension 38 can pass within the sleeve of barrel 12 progressively as indicated in FIGS. 3 and 4 until it comes through opening 40 as shown in FIG. 1. This, of course, may be done by any means for deforming the casing. If, for example, the casing was made of soft rubber, the deforming means for loading the casing would be inherent in the quality of the material itself. Where the casing 30 is made of a stiffer material such as a high impact plastic or the usual plastics used in making casings such as casing 30, it might be desirable to provide the slits 36 thereby removing some of the material of the casing and weakening it at its sides to be deformed so that it may be pressed to the shape shown in FIG. 4 for insertion of lateral extension 38.

Another way of rendering the casing 30 deformable for this purpose would be to provide for thinner sides, instead of the slits 36, and at the same positions. Thus, whatever the material used, means may be provided for deforming the casing 30 for insertion as described. In the form of invention shown, such deforming means are illustrated as slits 36.

The lateral extension 38 may have any cross sectional configuration or design which may be matched to a proper opening such as opening 40. In the form of invention shown, it is illustrated as a diamond shape. However, it could be round or square or any other configuration. When these elements 38 and 40 are matched in the assembled pen, they not only act to hold the insert casing 30 in place from longitudinal movement, but also maintain the insert casing 30 in place from axial rotation.

While a comparison in configurations has been made between elements 38 and 40 as being of a matched cross sectional configuration, it may be that one, such as opening 40, could be in the form of a diamond as shown, and the other, such as extension 38, could be in the form of four points fitting within the diamond instead of a solid diamond shape as shown, and it is, therefore, desired that the term matching configuration or matching configuration means as applied to elements 38 and 40 herein shall mean any configuration of these two elements which will prevent movement of the casing 30 with relation to the upper barrel 12 when the elements are in position in the completed pen.

The pen is assembled by inserting plunger element 32 into the lower end of barrel 12 and sliding the insert 22 upwardly to the position as shown in FIG. 3; then deforming the end of easing 3G and inserting lateral extension means 38 as shown in FIG. 4 until the casing 30 is completely fitted with lateral extension means 38 in its holding means such as opening 40 as shown in FIG. 1; then lower barrel 14 with ink cartridge 16 in place is matched to upper barrel 12 and threads 44 are screwed into threads 42 until the device is completely assembled as shown in FIG. 1. The interposition of threads 44 of lower barrel 14 into the hollow of casing 30 between threads 42 provides a firm inner core for casing 30 which prevents it from being deformed by pressure on extension 38 when the pen 10 is completely assembled. The pen may be disassembled for inserting a new car tridge by unscrewing the lower barrel 14 from the upper barrel 12, and the insert mechanism 22 may be removed when the lower barrel 14 is removed by pressing extension 38 inwardly and reversing the procedure of installing the insert 22.

While I have described my invention in its preferred forms, there are other forms which it may take without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and I, therefore, desire to be protected for all forms coming within the claims hereinbelow.

Wherefore I claim:

1. A writing implement having a main body portion comprising a barrel comprising separable parts, in which at least two of said separable parts are connected together by connecting means comprising a deformable coupling; said deformable coupling being adapted to engage and disengage with a first of said separable parts during deformation, and the second of said separable parts being adapted to engage with the deformable coupling to inhibit deformation of the coupling; in which the said deformable coupling and one of said separable parts are engaged by means of a lateral protruding connecting means, and the other of said separable parts is fitted within the coupling to prevent deformation; and in which the lateral protrusion connecting means c0mprises a lateral protrusion element adapted to fit into an opening having a matching configurtion to said lateral protrusion element, and in which the coupling is provided with internal thread means and the separable part fitted within the coupling is provided with external thread means adapted to match the thread means of the coupling.

2. A writing implement having a main body portion comprising a barrel comprising separable parts, in which at least two of said separable parts are connected together by connecting means comprising a deformable coupling; said deformable coupling being adapted to engage and disengage with a first of said separable parts during deformation, and the second of said separable parts being adapted to engage with the deformable couping to inhibit deformation of the coupling; in which the said deformable coupling and one of said separable parts are engaged by means of a lateral protrusion connecting element, and the other of said separable parts is fitted outside of the coupling to prevent deformation; and in which the lateral protrusion connecting means comprises a lateral protrusion element adapted to fit into an opening having a matching configuration to said lateral protrusion element, and in which the coupling is provided with external thread means and the separable part fitted outside the coupling is provided with internal thread means adapted to match the thread means of the coupling.

3. A writing implement having a main body portion comprising a barrel comprising separable parts, in which at least two of said separable parts are connected together by connecting means comprising a deformable coupling, said deformable coupling being adapted to engage and disengage with a first of said separable parts during deformation, and the second of said separable parts being adapted to engage with the deformable coupling to inhibit deformation of the coupling, said writing implement comprising a ball point fountain pen cartridge, said deformable coupling means being comprised in an assembly including a plunger operated ratchet adapted to operate the ball point ink cartridge reciprocally to extended and retracted positions with relation to said barrel, a first part of said barrel having an opening adapted to receive a lateral protrusion of said coupling means during deformation of said coupling, said lateral protrusion and said opening having matching configurations, said coupling means having a threaded portion in offset relation to said lateral protrusion, and a second part of said barrel having axially extending threaded means adapted to fit said threaded portion of said coupling means, wherein said lateral protrusion on said deformable coupling is adapted to be displaced from said opening in said first mentioned pen barrel part when said coupling is deformed, but such displacement is inhibited when said threaded means of said second mentioned part are engaged in said threaded means of said coupling to inhibit deformation of said coupling.

4. A writing implement having a main body portion comprising a barrel comprising separable parts, in which at least two of said separable parts are connected together by connecting means comprising a deformable coupling; said deformable coupling being adapted to engage and disengage with a first of said separable parts during deformation, and the second of said separable parts being adapted to engage with the deformable coupling to inhibit deformation of the coupling; said deformable coupling comprising an assembly including a plunger operated ratchet assembly, means to deform the coupling, a lateral protrusion adapted to be laterally displaced when the coupling is deformed, and threaded means on the coupling adapted to match threaded means on a writing implement barrel.

5. The writing implement as defined in claim 4, in which the said deformable coupling is made of plastic with a portion thereof being hollow and forming a substantially cylindrical wall with at least one portion of said wall being relatively thinner than the other portions of said wall to assist in deformation of the coupling.

6. The writing implement as defined in claim 4, in which the said deformable coupling is made of plastic with a portion thereof being hollow and forming a substantially cylindrical wall with at least one portion of said wall having at least one slit to assist in deformation of the coupling.

7. The writing implement as defined in claim 4, in which the said deformable coupling is made of metal with a portion thereof being hollow and forming a substantially cylindrical wall with at least one portion of said wall having at least one slit to assist in deformation of the coupling.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,580,753 1/1952 Frentzel 4011 12 3,179,087 4/1965 Kahn et al. l112 2,529,673 11/1950 Blake 40187 3,191,329 6/1965 Shea 401-412 X 3,318,289 5/1967 Marynissen 401-410 FOREIGN PATENTS 562,533 3/1957 Italy.

LAWRENCE CHARLES, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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